U.S. patent application number 14/226464 was filed with the patent office on 2014-10-02 for drawer apparatus.
This patent application is currently assigned to NIHON PLAST CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is NIHON PLAST CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Yasuhisa MASUDA.
Application Number | 20140292016 14/226464 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50686844 |
Filed Date | 2014-10-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140292016 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
MASUDA; Yasuhisa |
October 2, 2014 |
DRAWER APPARATUS
Abstract
A drawer apparatus comprises a base member (2) having a base
wall (3a) and two side walls (3b) that extend in the same direction
from opposed ends of the base wall (3a); a drawer (4); a guide
structure (10) by which the drawer (4) is guided to move in the
base member (2) between an open position and a storage position;
and_a coil spring (6, 26) that is compressed between the base wall
(3a) of the base member (2) and a rear wall (5a) of the drawer (4)
to bias the drawer (4) toward the open position, to wherein the
coil spring (6, 26) includes continuous circular elements of which
diameters gradually change in accordance with a positional change
in an axial direction.
Inventors: |
MASUDA; Yasuhisa; (Fuji-shi,
JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
NIHON PLAST CO., LTD. |
Fujinomiya-shi |
|
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
NIHON PLAST CO., LTD.
Fujinomiya-shi
JP
|
Family ID: |
50686844 |
Appl. No.: |
14/226464 |
Filed: |
March 26, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
296/37.12 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B60N 3/10 20130101; B60R
7/06 20130101; B60N 3/106 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
296/37.12 |
International
Class: |
B60R 7/06 20060101
B60R007/06 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 27, 2013 |
JP |
2013-066118 |
Claims
1. A drawer apparatus comprising: a base member having a base wall
and two side walls that extend in the same direction from opposed
ends of the base wall; a drawer; a guide structure by which the
drawer is guided to move in the base member between an open
position and a storage position; and a coil spring that is
compressed between the base wall of the base member and a rear wall
of the drawer to bias the drawer toward the open position, wherein:
the coil spring includes continuous circular elements of which
diameters gradually change in accordance with a positional change
in an axial direction.
2. A drawer apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the coil
spring is of a type that takes a flat circular shape to be neatly
received in a space between the base wall of the base member and
the rear wall of the drawer when compressed in an axial
direction.
3. A drawer apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which the coil
spring includes a plurality of continuously connected circular
elements of different diameters which are arranged side by side and
become closer to one another without being put on one another when
compressed in the axial direction.
4. A drawer apparatus as claimed in claim 3, in which the coil
spring is a cone-shaped coil spring that includes a plurality of
continuously connected circular elements of which diameters
gradually increase with an increase of an axial distance.
5. A drawer apparatus as claimed in claim 3, in which the coil
spring is of a center-reduced type that includes two cone-shaped
coil sections that are integrally connected to each other at their
diametrically reduced ends, each cone-shaped coil section including
a plurality of continuously connected circular elements of which
diameters gradually increase with an increase of an axial
distance.
6. A drawer apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which the to guide
structure comprises: a pair of elongate guide members connected to
the side walls of the base member respectively; a pair of elongate
slide members respectively connected side walls of the drawer, the
elongate slide members being slidably received in the elongate
guide members to allow the drawer to move in forward and rearward
direction in the base member.
7. A drawer structure as claimed in claim 6, in which the elongate
slide members are connected to the side walls of the drawer through
respective reinforcing plates.
8. A drawer structure as claimed in claim 7, in which the
reinforcing plates are constructed of a steel and formed with a
plurality of openings.
9. A drawer structure as claimed in claim 1, in which the drawer is
provided with a cup holding that is drawable from and retractable
into the drawer.
10. A drawer apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which one axial
end of the coil spring is connected to the base wall of the base
member and the other end of the coil spring is in abutment with a
rear wall of the drawer.
11. A drawer apparatus as claimed in claim 10, in which the s other
end of the coil spring is pressed against the rear wall of the
drawer when the drawer takes the open position.
12. A drawer apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a
lock mechanism which comprises: to a pair of rear pin openings
formed in the side walls of the base member; a pair of front pin
openings formed in the side walls of the base member at portions
other than the rear pin openings; a pair of lock pins retractably
provided at side walls of the drawer; a control knob retractably
held by a front wall of the drawer; and a control mechanism
arranged between each of the lock pins and the control knob for
transmitting operation of the control knob to the lock pins.
13. A drawer apparatus as claimed in claim 12, in which the control
mechanism comprises: a first biasing means that biases the lock
pins laterally outward; a Y-shaped wire that has two rear ends
pivotally connected to inner ends of the lock pins and a front end
pivotally connected to the control knob; and a second biasing means
that biases the control knob toward the lock pins.
14. A drawer apparatus as claimed in claim 13, in which the control
mechanism further comprises a guide means that guides the Y-shaped
wire for smoothly transmitting movement of the control knob to the
lock pins.
15. A drawer apparatus comprising: a base member having a base wall
and two side walls that extend in the same direction from opposed
ends of the base wall; a drawer having a rear wall; a guide
structure by which the drawer is guided to move in the base member
between an open position and a storage position; and a coil spring
compressed between the base wall of the base member and the rear
wall of the drawer to bias the drawer toward the open position,
wherein: the coil spring includes continuous circular elements of
which diameter gradually change in accordance with a positional
change in an axial direction; and the coil spring is of a type that
can take a flat circular shape to be neatly received in a space
between the base wall of the base ember and the rear wall of the
drawer when compressed in an axial direction.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates in general to drawer
apparatuses installed in motor vehicles, and more particularly to
the drawer apparatus of a type that is constructed compact in size
and equipped with a biasing spring for biasing a drawer toward an
open position.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Hitherto, various types of drawer apparatus have been
proposed and put into practical use particularly in the field of
wheeled motor vehicles.
[0005] In order to clarify the present invention, two known drawer
apparatuses will be briefly described in the following, which are
those disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application (tokkai)
2003-285681 and Japanese Utility Model Publication (jikkouhei)
07-12182 respectively.
[0006] In Japanese Laid-open Patent Application (tokkai)
2003-285681, there is shown a drawer apparatus for use in a motor
vehicle. The drawer apparatus of this publication generally
comprises a base structure having an axially extending holding
portion, a drawer axially movable in the holding portion between an
open position and a storage position, a coil spring compressed
between a bottom wall of the holding portion and a rear wall of the
drawer to bias the drawer toward the open position and a lock
mechanism that is able to lock the drawer at the open and storage
positions.
[0007] The coil spring used in this drawer apparatus is arranged
coaxial with a direction in which the drawer moves. Thus, when the
drawer is moved to the storage position against the force of the
coil spring, the coil spring is axially compressed and finally
takes a cylindrical shape having its continuously connected
circular coil elements closely pressed to one another. Upon this,
the coil spring shows a certain axial length, and thus, in the
storage position of the drawer, there is inevitably produced a
certain wasteful space between the bottom wall of the holding
portion and the rear wall of the drawer. Due to such wasteful
space, the drawer in the storage position is not effectively
received in the holding portion of the base structure, which causes
the drawer apparatus to fail to have a compact construction.
[0008] In Japanese Utility Model Publication (jikkouhei) 07-12182,
there is shown a drawer apparatus for use in a motor vehicle. The
drawer apparatus of this publication generally comprises an outer
case, a drawer axially movable in the outer case between an open
position and a storage position, and a coil spring is compressed
between a bottom wall of the outer case and a rear wall of the
drawer thereby to bias the drawer toward the open position.
[0009] The coil spring used in this drawer apparatus has one arm
pivotally connected to the bottom wall of the outer case and
another arm pivotally connected to the rear wall of the drawer.
That is, a main part (viz., the part including multiple coil
elements) of the coil spring is so arranged that an axis of the
main part is perpendicular to a direction in which the drawer
moves. Thus, when the drawer is moved to the storage position
against the force of the coil spring, the two arms of the coil
spring are gradually pressed toward each other and finally stopped
when the main part of the coil spring is tightly sandwiched between
the bottom wall of the outer case and the rear wall of the drawer.
That is, due to presence of such main part of the coil spring, the
drawer in the storage position is not effectively received in the
outer case, which also causes the drawer apparatus to fail to have
a compact construction.
[0010] It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide a drawer apparatus for a motor vehicle, which is free of
the above-mentioned drawbacks.
[0011] In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention,
s there is provided a drawer apparatus which comprises a base
member (2) having a base wall (3a) and two side walls (3b) that
extend in the same direction from opposed ends of the base wall
(3a); a drawer (4); a guide structure (10) by which the drawer (4)
is guided to move in the base member (2) between an open position
and a storage position; and a coil spring (6, 26) that is
compressed between the base wall (3a) of the base member (2) and a
rear wall (5a) of the drawer (4) to bias the drawer (4) toward the
open position, wherein the coil spring (6, 26) includes continuous
circular elements of which diameters gradually change is in
accordance with a positional change in an axial direction.
[0012] In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention,
there is provided a drawer apparatus which comprises a base member
(2) having a base wall (3a) and two side walls (3b) that extend in
the same direction from opposed ends of the base wall (3a); a
drawer (4) having a rear wall (5a); a guide structure (10) by which
the drawer (4) is guided to move in the base member (2) between an
open position and a storage position; and a coil spring (6, 26)
compressed between the base wall (3a) of the base member (2) and
the rear wall (5a) of the drawer (4) to bias the drawer (4) toward
the open position, wherein the coil spring (6, 26) includes
continuous circular elements of which diameter gradually change in
accordance with a positional change in an axial direction; and the
coil spring (6, 26) is of a type that can take a flat circular
shape to be neatly received in a space between the base wall (3a)
of the base ember (2) and the rear wall (5a) of the drawer (4) when
compressed in an axial direction.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] Other objects and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent from the following description when taken in
conjunction of the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drawer apparatus of the
present invention that is practically installed to an instrument
panel of a motor vehicle;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the drawer apparatus of the
present invention showing two distinguishable positions of a
drawer, one (viz., left one) being an open position and the other
(viz., right one) being a storage position;
[0016] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the drawer apparatus of a
first embodiment of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a cone-shaped coil spring
used in the first embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 5 is a plan view of the cone-shaped coil spring in a
fully compressed condition, that is taken from a right position of
the spring of FIG. 4;
[0019] FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the drawer apparatus
of the first embodiment with the drawer assuming the open
position;
[0020] FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the drawer apparatus
of the first embodiment with the drawer assuming the storage
position;
[0021] FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing a second
embodiment of the present invention, in which the cone-shaped coil
spring is installed in a reversed manner; and
[0022] FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a center-reduced coil spring
that is used in a third embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0023] In the following, a drawer apparatus of the present
invention will be described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
[0024] For ease of understanding, in the following explanation,
various directional terms, such as, right, left, upper, lower,
leftward and the like are used. However, it is to be noted that
such terms are to be understood with respect to only a drawing s or
drawings on which a corresponding member or portion is shown.
[0025] Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a drawer apparatus 1A of
a first embodiment of the present invention which is practically
installed in an instrument panel 21 of a motor vehicle. As shown in
the drawing, the drawer apparatus 1A is mounted just below a TV
monitor TVM mounted on a center portion of an upper panel member of
the instrument panel. Denoted by numeral 22 is a steering wheel
that is placed at a right side of the TV monitor TVM.
[0026] As is seen from FIG. 2, the drawer apparatus 1A has a
box-like drawer 4 that can be drawn out to an open position shown
by a broken line and drawn into a storage position shown by a solid
line. Denoted by numeral 10 is guide means through which the drawer
4 is smoothly movable between the open and storage positions, as
will be described in detail hereinafter.
[0027] Referring back to FIG. 1, the drawer 4 is movably held
between side walls 3b and 3b (see FIG. 3) of a base member 2 that
is fixed to the instrument panel 21. Denoted by numeral 16 is a
tray provided on the drawer 4, and denoted by numeral 15 is a grip
fixed to the drawer 4 just below the tray 16. The tray 16 has side
banks 16a raised. Denoted by numeral 17 is a cup holder that is
drawable from and retractable into the drawer 4, as will be
understood from FIG. 3. A heart-cam mechanism is employed for
locking and unlocking the cup holder 17.
[0028] The detail of the drawer apparatus 1A will be much clearly
understood from the following description with the aid of FIG.
3.
[0029] As is seen from FIG. 3, the drawer apparatus 1A generally
comprises three major parts, which are a base member 2 that is
fixed to a vehicle body (not shown) through an opening of the
instrument panel 21, the above-mentioned box-like drawer 4 that is
slidably held by the base member 2 and a cone-shaped coil spring 6
that is practically compressed between the base member 2 for
biasing the drawer 4 toward the open position.
[0030] As is seen from FIG. 3, the base member 2 is constructed of
a steel and generally U-shaped. That is, the base member 2
comprises a rectangular base wall 3a and two side walls 3b and 3b
that extend leftward in FIG. 3 from laterally opposed ends of the
rectangular base wall 3a.
[0031] The rectangular base wall 3a is provided at its outer
surface with brackets 19 (only one is shown) through which the base
member 2 is fixed to the vehicle body. The rectangular base wall 3a
is provided at its inner surface with a coil catching boss 9 is of
which function will become apparent as the description
proceeds.
[0032] The two side walls 3b are provided at inner surfaces thereof
with elongate guide members 11 respectively, each elongate guide
member 11 being fixed to the side wall 3b through connecting bolts
18. The guide members 11 are constructed of a metal or a so-called
engineering plastic. As shown, each guide member 11 comprises an
elongate base portion (no numeral) and two elongate side guide
walls (no numerals) extending along laterally opposed ends of the
elongate base portion. As shown, each elongate side guide wall is
curved inward. Furthermore, the two side walls 3b of the base
member 2 have outwardly extended flanges 20 at their leading ends
respectively.
[0033] As is well shown in FIG. 3, the drawer 4 is constructed of a
molded resin. That is, for molding the drawer 4 with polypropylene
or the like, injection molding or blow molding can be employed. Of
course, the drawer 4 may be constructed of a metal.
[0034] As is mentioned hereinabove, the drawer 4 has the tray 16
formed thereon, the grip 15 provided on a front upper portion
thereof and the cup holder 17 at a lower portion thereof.
[0035] As shown, the drawer 4 is in the shape of a rectangular
parallelepiped that comprises a front wall 5c, side walls 5b and
5b, a rear wall 5a, an upper wall (no numeral) formed with the tray
16 and a lower wall 5d.
[0036] Reinforcing plates 13 of steel are respectively connected
via thermal welding or the like to the side walls 5b of the drawer
4. For assuring the connection between the reinforcing plates 13
and the side walls 5b, screws 13b are used each being screwed into
the side wall 5b after passing through the reinforcing plate 13.
Each reinforcing plate 13 is formed with a plurality of openings
13a for reducing the weight of the plate 13.
[0037] Elongate slide members 12 of metal are respectively secured
to the reinforcing plates 13 through connecting bolts 18. Upon
proper assembly, the slide members 12 are slidably received in the
guide members 11 of the base member 2 to allow the drawer 4 to move
leftward and rightward in the base member 2 along the guide members
11. Although not shown in the drawing, each slide member 12 has
longitudinally extending slits at upper and lower edges for the
slidable engagement with the corresponding guide member 11 that has
elongate side guide walls.
[0038] Thus, the guide members 11 and the slide members 12
constitute the above-mentioned guide means 10.
[0039] If desired, the slide members 12 may be constructed of a
synthetic resin, such as polyamide-6, polyacetal, fluororesin
(tetorafluoroethane), or these resins to which silicone-oil is
added. If silicone-oil mixed resin is used for the slide members
12, the slide movement of the slide members 12 relative to the
guide members 11 is improved.
[0040] Between the base member 2 and the drawer 4, there is
compressed the cone-shaped coil spring 6 for biasing the drawer 4
leftward in FIG. 3 in the base member 2.
[0041] As is seen from FIG. 4, the cone-shaped coil spring 6
comprises a conical main part 6a, a larger diameter end part 7 and
a smaller diameter end part 8. The larger diameter end part 7 is
formed with an engaging end 7a that extends radially inward, and
the smaller diameter end part 8 is formed with an engaging end 7a
that extends outward in a tangential direction.
[0042] The cone-shaped coil spring 6 is a spiral spring that
includes a plurality of continuously connected circular elements of
which diameters gradually change in accordance with a positional
change in an axial direction of the spring 6.
[0043] As will be understood from FIG. 5, when fully compressed,
the cone-shaped coil spring 6 takes a flat circular shape having
circular coil elements thereof flatly received on a flat
surface.
[0044] Referring back to FIG. 3, when assembled, the engaging end
7a of the cone-shaped coil spring 6 is caught by the coil catching
boss 9 of the base member 2 and the other engaging end 8a of the
cone-shape coil spring 6 is pressed against the rear wall 5a of the
drawer 4. The other engaging end 8a is shaped to extend in a
tangential direction thereby to enlarge a contact area between the
end 8a and the rear wall 5a
[0045] Thus, as will be seen from FIG. 6, the drawer 4 is
constantly biased leftward by the cone-shaped coil spring 6.
[0046] While, as will be seen from FIG. 7, when the drawer 4 is
fully pushed into the base member 2 against the force of the coil
spring 6, the coil spring 6 is forced to take the flat circular
shape allowing the drawer 4 to take the deepest position in the
base member 2. In this deepest position, the rear wall 5a of the
drawer 4 is separated from the rectangular base wall 3a of the base
member 2 by a distance that is about twice the diameter of the wire
of the coil spring 6.
[0047] In order to lock the drawer 4 at the deepest position in the
base member 2, a lock mechanism 100 is employed.
[0048] As is seen from FIG. 3, the lock mechanism 100 comprises a
pair of rear pin openings 50a formed in rear upper portions of the
side walls 3b and 3b of the base member 2 and a pair of front pin
openings 50b formed in front upper portions of the side walls 3b
and 3b.
[0049] The lock mechanism 100 further comprises a pair of lock pins
52a that are retractably provided at rear upper portions of the
side walls 5b of the drawer 4. These two lock pins 52a and 52a are
connected through a control mechanism (not shown) to a control knob
54 retractably held by an upper portion of the front wall 5c of the
drawer 4.
[0050] The control mechanism comprises a first biasing means that
is biases the two lock pins 52a laterally outward, a Y-shaped wire
that has two rear ends pivotally connected to inner ends of the
lock pins 52a and a front end pivotally connected to the control
knob 54, a second biasing means that biases the control knob 54
rearward and a guide means that guides the Y-shaped wire for
smoothly transmitting movement of the control knob 54 to the lock
pins 52a.
[0051] In the following, operation of the drawer apparatus 1A of
the first embodiment will be described with the aid of FIGS. 3 to
7.
[0052] For ease of explanation, the description will be commenced
with respect to the open position of the drawer 4, which is
depicted by FIG. 6.
[0053] In this open position, the drawer 4 is drawn out
sufficiently from the base member 2 and locked to the base member 2
having the lock pins 52a and 52a engaged with the front pin opening
50b and 50b (see FIG. 3) of the base member 2, as is seen from FIG.
6. Under this open position, the cone-shaped coil spring 6 biases
the drawer 4 toward the open position with a reduced force, as is
understood from the drawing.
[0054] When now the control knob 54 is pulled against the force of
the second biasing means to release the lock pins 52a and 52a from
the front pin openings 50b and 50b and then, with the control knob
54 being kept pulled against the second biasing means, a certain
force is applied to the drawer 4 in a rightward direction in FIG. 3
against the biasing force of the cone-shaped coil spring 6, the
drawer 4 is moved rightward and finally to the storage position of
FIG. 7. Upon arriving at the storage position, the two lock pins
52a and 52a are permitted to engage with the to rear pin openings
50a and 50a of the base member 2 due to the force of the first
biasing means and thus the drawer 4 is locked at the storage
position. During movement of the drawer 4 from the open position to
the storage position, the lock pins 52a and 52a are kept drawn in
by the side walls 5b of the base member 2.
[0055] Due to the cone-shape of the spring 6, initial movement of
the drawer 4 toward the storage position requires only a small
force, which brings about a smoothed movement of the drawer 4
throughout entire traveling of the drawer 4 to the storage
position.
[0056] It is now to be noted that due to the flat circular shape
which the cone-shaped coil spring 6 takes when it is fully
compressed, the drawer 4 can be deeply received in the base member
2. This brings about a compact construction of the drawer apparatus
1A.
[0057] As is seen from FIGS. 5 and 7, when the drawer 4 is in the
storage position, the other engaging end 8a of the cone-shaped coil
spring 6 is put on the flatly shaped coil spring 6. This prevents
the other engaging end 8a from engaging with the engaging end 7a.
If such engagement takes place, normal expansion of the cone-shaped
coil spring 6 is not expected.
[0058] When, with the drawer 4 kept in the storage position, the
control knob 54 is pulled against the force of the second biasing
means to release the lock pins 52a and 52a from the rear pin
openings 50a and 50a and then released, the drawer 4 is moved back
toward the open position due to the biasing force of the
cone-shaped coil spring 6. When, during the backward movement, the
drawer 4 comes to the open position, the lock pins 52a and 52a are
permitted to engage with the front pin openings 50b and 50b due to
the force of the first biasing means. Thus, the drawer 4 takes the
open locked position as shown in FIG. 6.
[0059] Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown a drawer apparatus 1B of
to a second embodiment of the present invention.
[0060] Since the drawer apparatus 1B of the second embodiment is
very similar to the drawer apparatus 1A of the above-mentioned
first embodiment of FIG. 3, only a part that is different from that
of the first embodiment will be described in the following.
[0061] That is, in the second embodiment, the arrangement of the
cone-shaped coil spring 6 to both the base member 2 and drawer 4 is
reversed as compared with the first embodiment.
[0062] As shown, in the second embodiment, the larger diameter end
part 7 with the engaging end 7a is pressed against the rear wall 5a
of the drawer 4 and the smaller diameter end part 8 with an
engaging end 8b is caught by the coil catching boss 9 of the base
member 2.
[0063] Operation of the drawer apparatus 1B of the second
embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first
embodiment, and thus, description of the operation will be
omitted.
[0064] Referring to FIG. 9, there is shown a coil spring 26 that is
used in a drawer apparatus 1C of a third embodiment of the present
invention.
[0065] As shown, the coil spring 26 used in this third embodiment
1C is of a center-reduced type that comprises two cone-shaped coil
parts that face to each other at their diametrically smaller ends.
Also, this type coil spring 26 takes a flat circular shape when
fully compressed.
[0066] That is, in the third embodiment, the coil spring 26 is
compressed between the rectangular base wall 3a of the base s
member 2 and the rear wall 5a of the drawer 4. The right end of the
coil spring 26 is fixed to the rectangular base wall 3a and the
left end of the coil spring 26 is pressed against the rear wall 5a
of the drawer 4.
[0067] In the following, various modifications and variations of
the above-mentioned drawer apparatus 1A, 1B and 1C will be
described.
[0068] In the above explanation, the drawer apparatus of the
invention is described to be mounted to an instrument panel 21 of a
motor vehicle. However, if desired, the drawer apparatus is may be
mounted to various positions of an interior of the motor
vehicle.
[0069] As will be understood from FIG. 3, if the slide members 12
are arranged to incline relative to the side walls 5b of the drawer
4, movement of the drawer 4 toward the open position is carried out
obliquely upward or downward. If the movement is made obliquely
downward, the tray 16 is permitted to hold tall goods.
[0070] In place of the center-reduced type coil spring 26 shown in
FIG. 9, a drum-shaped coil spring is also usable in the
invention.
[0071] In the above description, only two types of coil springs 6
and 26 are explained for use in the present invention. However,
springs usable in the invention are not limited to such coil
springs 6 and 26. That is, springs usable in the invention may be
those that become very flattened when fully compressed.
[0072] If the drawer 4 is constructed of a molded resin, the slide
members 12 may be integrally molded on the drawer 4. In this case,
the reinforcing plates 13 are not used.
[0073] In FIG. 6, there is shown a condition wherein the engaging
end 8a of the cone-shaped coil spring 6 is pressed against the rear
wall 5a of the drawer 4 to bias the drawer 4 leftward. However, in
the present invention, there is no need of pressing the engaging
end 8a against the rear wall 5a of the drawer 4 in the open
position. That is, in the open position, the engaging end 8a may be
spaced apart from the rear wall 5a. In this case, the natural
length of the cone-shaped coil spring 6 is shorter than an actual
distance travelled by the drawer 4 from the storage position to the
open position.
[0074] If desired, the engaging end 8a of the cone-shaped spring 6
to may be connected to the rear wall 5a of the drawer 4. In this
case, the drawer 4 locked in the open position is biased toward the
storage position. Thus, once the locked condition is released, the
drawer 4 is moved toward the storage position but in a small given
distance. Thereafter, an operator has to push the drawer 4 toward
the storage position for placing the drawer 4 to the storage
position.
[0075] If desired, two or more springs may be arranged between the
base member 2 and the drawer 4. Of course, in this case, these
springs should not be arranged to overlap each other. Usage of a
plurality of springs may bring about a much smoothed movement of
the drawer 4 between the open and storage positions.
[0076] The entire contents of Japanese Patent Application
2013-066118 filed Mar. 27, 2013 are incorporated herein by
reference.
[0077] Although the invention has been described above with
reference to embodiments of the invention, the invention is not
limited to such embodiments as described above. Various
modifications and variations of such embodiments may be carried out
by those skilled in the art, in light of the above description.
* * * * *